Doctor Who: Love and Monsters

[Ed_Laprade]

I was not very impressed by this one. It had a couple of good bits: Jackie and Elton at the laundromat, and Rose and the Doctor completely ignoring the monster so that Rose could give Elton a piece of her mind. But basically it moved like a glacier. I understand that the Absorbalof (sp?) was the winning entry in a contest for younger fans? If so, was the alien at the begining the second place winner? Does anyone know?

 

[Crothian]

It was fun to see Moaning Mertle and that actress is quite a bit older then I had thought. She has a unique voice.

 

[Richards]

This episode was okay, but it mostly seemed like the production team decided they needed to give David Tennant and Billie Piper most of the week off that week.

Johnathan

 

[RichCsigs]

Close, they had to film the previous two parter at the same time. They knew this going in so they intentionally wrote the episode to have very little of the Doctor & Rose.

I loved this episode. Reminded me of a Darrien Morgan episode of X-Files.

 

[dravot]

I thought it was fun, but don't want very many episodes to be like it.

Actually, I thought that it went downhill when the alien revealed itself.

 

[Morrus]

Ah, is that the awful Peter Kay episode? I hated it.

 

[BlueBlackRed]

I enjoyed it.
Not great, but certainly enjoyable.

 

[Volaran]

As I've shown the series to various people, I've found that this is consistently seems to be one of the favourite episodes. It doesn't match The Impossible Planet/Satan pit, or the season ender, but it has a certain kind of charm. Maybe because it seems to be about Doctor Who fans, or fandom in general.

I wouldn't want every episode to be like this, but it offers an interesting look into the Whoniverse when the Doctor isn't the main focus. Torchwood does this as well, I suppose, but in quite a different way.

 

[Wormwood]

My wife and I absolutely *loved* this episode.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Let me chime in with those people who thoroughly enjoyed this episode.

Why?

Well, part of it was seeing the perspective of someone who's life the Doctor has touched tangentially. I mean, I found that I really liked Elton. I liked his friends (although we saw less of them), and I liked their ordinary-ness.

I enjoy watching Doctor Who with my 7-year-old daughter, and we both enjoyed the Scooby Doo element with the initial alien (the thing that seemed similar to a Weevil, but was not). I liked the mention of the "living shadow from the howling lands" (best use of a D&D monster in a Doctor Who episode, IMHO). Best use of the Innuendo skill when Elton suggests that he has a "sort of a love life" with Ursula's petrified face (shades of The Five Doctors, btw). And while the Fat Bastard rip-off of a final monster was anti-climactic, the monster wasn't really the point.

The point, to me, was Elton's humanity, his willingness to sacrifice, his loss, and his ability to survive and prosper despite that (partial) loss. It was also, of couse, a foreshadowing of the season finale.

Not a deep episode, but a fun episode. One of my favorites from this season.....along with The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, School Reuinion, and (#1) The Girl in the Fireplace.